Door operator



July 10, 1945. W A, GElGER 2,380,302

DOOR OPERATOR' Filed Jan. 6, 1944 the line 3-3 of Fig.2;

Patented July 10, 1945 liamy P..Sidley, M. F. Baok,AlbertP.A Withall', s j e Edwin C. Austin, and GeorgeA.- Johnson, all of yChicago, Ill.,l and'Alice T. Miner, Chazy, N. Y.,l

' tion as trustees oir'y The William H.1Miner Founda- Application January 6, 1944, Serial No.

' 1v claims. 101.2924218) y overlaps theedgefof door B. The door B is pro- My invention relates to improvements in door operators, more particularly, but not necessarily, y

adapted for use in connection" with refrigerator car doors. y Y .y

One of the objects of thei'nvention is to provide a rotary operating. means vfor forcing the doors of refrigerator cars either open or tightly closed, in which end members on a rotary bar have, camming Aengagement with keepersV on the car and' in which the endmembers and rotary bar arev interlocked in' assembled relation by bearing brackets.

vwhereby construction isr simplied and costv of manufacture 'is materially reduced'b'y the elimination of the usual labor involved in'xedly securing the end members to the bar.

A further object is to provide a door voperating means in which bearing brackets are utilized to s hold the end-members and rotary bar in assembled relation within the bearings.

A further object is to provide interengaging lugs and seats within the bearings and on the end members and the rotary operating bar whereby' the assembling of the parts interlocks the Darts in operating condition without vfurther adjustment or fastening means.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and claims in vconnection with the accompanying drawing which illustrates one embodiment of the invention.

Referring to the drawing,

thereonk and illustrating the improved door operating structure in connection therewith;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the lower end portion of the operating means illustrating the interlocking means between the operating' bar, the end member and the bearing therefor; y Fig. 3 is a horizontal section substantially on Fig. 4 is a View in elevation of the end crank member and operation bar in assembled relation;-

Fig. 5 isa sectional view similar to Fig. 2 but illustrating av modied form of interlock betweenv the members; and

or lugs shown in Fig. 5.

Referring to the drawing, the car' wall A has doors B and C which are of the usual designhaving beveled edges which cooperate with the correspondingly beveled edges of the door frame. In

the usual refrigerator door construction, thev meeting edges of the doors are beveled so that the door Bis rst closed and the edge ofdoorC Fig. 1 isa View in elevation of a wall of a refrigerator car with a pair of hinged doors mounted vided at its lower inner Acorner .with a wear plate 2 'whichis engaged by a piv'oted latch 3, the Purposeof which is to holdthe'door B closed while the door C is being opened bythe door operating ymechanism.A Y Y I IIThe' door'operating mechanism comprises generally the vertical rotary bar D having end crank or cam members 5 mounted in bearing brackets E y and 'adapted to cooperate with upper and lo'wer keepers Son'the door frame. A vsuitable operating lever F is pivotally secured to the operator bar D for the purpose of rotating the bar on its axis, thel lever being normally. locked ywith the 'doors' in closed position by means of' the usual seallatch means 'I. The top and bottom keepers 4tare of th usual type having cam slots 8 within whichthecranksor; offset members 9 of the end members 5.are adapted toengage to force the ldoor partly open or tightly closed.

` yThe rotary bar D is of substantially rectangular cross section throughout its length and has its 'edgescurved on, a radius to fit it for rotation in the lupper and lower bearing brackets E, the roundedfedges `of the lowerend portion of the bar, being indicated by I0 in Fig. 3. As shown in Figs. 2, ,3 and 4, therounded edges I0 of the bar havenotches or seats II which are transversely aligned and are located preferably. about midway l vofthat portion of the` bar which lies within the vertical length of lthe bearing.

The top and bottom end members 5 are similar in design and each comprises a forked or divided portion I2 which embraces opposite sides of the flat en d portion of the bar so that When the bar and end member are assembled a suitable connection is made, by which the bar can rotate the end. member. The spaced arms or members I3 forming the forked portion I2 have notches I4 in their edges, which register With the notches I I in the bar., The .upper and lower ends of the forked portion are provided with enlargements I5 which are made cylindrical to i'lt the bearing 'portions of the bearing bracket E.

Fig. 6 is a detail view of the interlocking beads the usualopening` I closed by a pair of hinged,r

The bearing brackets E, which are secured to the door adjacent the top and bottom ends thereof, are of two-piece construction, each comprising a back or base plate I6 and a 'cover plate. The back plate I6 has bearing projections I8 at its upper and lower ends, which present bearing surfacesfor the enlargements I5 of the end members. The cover plate is in theyform of a semi-cylindrical portion I9 which embraces half of the enlargements I5 to provide bearing surfaces therefor. These bearing surfaces and those of the base projections I8 are thus complementary and provide bearings for the major portion of the circumference of the enlargements. On the interior Wall of cylindrical portion 19, an integral semi-annular bead or lug 20 is provided which is located to register with the slots or seats I I and I4 of the bar and end member when the parts are assembled, and to engage in and interlock with said notches and thereby main-ly tain the end member, bar and bearingagainst relative endwise displacement. The bead or lug is preferably semi-cylindricalin section and eX- tends toward the back plate beyond the diameter' of the end member forked portion sothat itl actually engages the slots for more than half the circumference thereof.

The back plate and the cover plate have lateral iianges or ears 2l and 22 respectively, which are overlapped and secured to the car means of the bolts 23.

In Figs. 5 and 6 a modified interlocking Ystructure is shown. In this form the Wallv I9 of the bracket cover plate is formed outwardly to provide an internal groove 24. Nibs or lugs 25 are formed on the edges of the bar D to register with said internal groove 24 and to cooperate therewith in interlocking the bar and bearing member. In like manner, the edges of the fork member l 3 of the end member are provided with lugs or nibs 26 Lin registration and for cooperation with groove 24 of the bearing member.

I claim:

l. In a device of the character described, the combination of a bearing bracket comprising a base member and acover member forming when assembled a cylindrical bearing portion, an end member rotatably positioned in said bearing portion, an operating bar extending into said beardoor by,

' cylindricalportion having an internal semi-aning portion in .overlapping telescoped relation with said end member, and interlocking means within the bearing portion of the cover member .and between the cover member the end member placement.'

2. In a. device of the class described, the combination of a bearing bracket comprising superposed members having a cylindrical portion forming an elongated bearing, the wall of said V- nular bead, an end member rotatably positioned in said bearing, said end member having an elongated lengthwise slot therein opening laterally, and having notches in its periphery registering With and engaging the said bead, and an operating bar seated in said lengthwise slot in said end member and having notches in its edges registering with and engaging said bead, said bead and notches locking said end `member and bar against endvvise displacementin either direction in said bearing bracket.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a bearing bracket comprising superposed members having a cylindrical portion forming an elongated bearing, the Wall of said cylindrical vportion having an internal semi-annular groove, an end member rotatably-positioned in said bearing,.said end member having an elongated lengthwise slot therein opening laterally, and having lugs on each side of said slot registering with and engaging said groove, and an operating bar seated insaid lengthwise slot in said end member and having lugs on its edges registering With and engaging said groove.

WILLIAM A.-GEIGER. 

